From February 12th to the 27th a team of caring Canadians, dedicated to helping others less fortunate than themselves, provided medical relief in one the most needy countries in the world, Nicaragua.

The team was comprised of five eye doctors, one dentist, one pharmacist, four medical doctors, two registered nurses, four medical students and twelve support staff. They held free Clinics at two locations; San Marcos in the south and Condega in the north. The team worked smoothly as a unit in partnership with national translators, doctors and nurses to deliver compassionate and timely health care to over 2300 patients and dispensed 400 pairs of glasses and filled 2360 prescriptions. Many people expressed their appreciation for the work that was accomplished including Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, who issued a press release indicating that he was pleased to have our team showing solidarity with the Nicaraguan people in such a practical way.

No medical team can operate effectively without the help of a skilled pharmacist. Last year Gord Lane supplied that need and this year his wife Heather Lane picked up the torch and ran with it. She was surprised to see that our newly minted pharmacy received the honorary name of "Lane Pharmacy- Nicaragua Division". Hopefully Threefold will not have to pay any franchise fee for the use of the name!  Heather and her team did an amazing job keeping pace with the script writers, filling literally thousands of prescriptions and doing so with dignity and grace. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to them for a job well done!

Our dental team was led by Dr. Joe Stasko and his RN wife Nancy Stasko and a group of dedicated volunteers. During the second half of the trip they were joined by a gifted Nicaraguan dentist Dr. Blanca.

Each day children and their families would arrive at the dental clinic filled with tears and apprehension. When they departed, they were filled with overwhelming appreciation and smiles! Even without state of the art equipment that our team relied upon in Canada, but with good anesthesia, there was much we could do to relieve pain, educate and offer these patients hope for better health. Our expert English/Spanish translators acted as great support staff in comforting each and every patient.

These patients learned that a visit to the dentist doesn't have to involve pain and we know that they will spread this news and the positive experience of their visit here, to all their friends and relatives.

With more dentists and their support staff and the added dollars and equipment so desperately needed in this region, the clinic here at Skylark will become a first rate destination for so many needy families.

“...ongoing treatment and monitoring…(would) truly make the difference…”

The people our team saw were very grateful to the Canadian doctors for the advice and treatment they were able to offer. But many of these people have medical problems that require ongoing treatment and monitoring. In order to truly make a difference in the health of this community we need to be able to follow their progress and continue to provide care.

There are two ways we can do this: with regular clinics by visiting medical teams and by someone on the ground.

It is the vision of Threefold Ministries to be able to provide continuity of care through the permanent position of a nurse practitioner stationed at Skylark Retreat Centre. With such a person in place, Threefold Ministries would be able to offer ongoing treatment to the people of our community and be better prepared to receive more medical teams. The cost of hiring full time nurse practitioner is about $400 USD per month.

If you are interested in hearing more of this worthwhile endeavor please contact Gary Robinson, Executive Director

We saw a wide variety of patients during our trip- some healthy, others less so. Many were underdeveloped and lacking nutritionally. Most were afflicted with worms and as a result, our supply of de-worming medication had to be replenished several times. The most striking variety in patients was highlighted for us on the day we treated a 17 day old baby and then responded to the needs of a 97 year old great-great grandmother. Our thanks goes out to all who helped us obtain the necessary medication to respond to the need of the people. A great big thank you goes out to Health Partners International who provided us with medications at a 1 to 10 ratio through their Physician Travel Pack Program.

With the help of an excellent translator, I had the pleasure and the privilege of teaching groups of young men, aged 11 to 19, on the subjects of family planning and the prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

We began each lesson by asking the students if they were ready to be fathers, or if they were ready to cope with an STI for which there was no cure (of course, no one raised their hands!).

We then continued with a discussion about male and female anatomy, followed by a basic description of ovulation, conception, and menstruation. Most of the students had no idea as to how the internal female organs worked, let alone how the abovementioned natural processes took place.

This was followed by lengthy exchanges regarding various methods of birth control - with abstention being the most effective - and dismissed several myths, including the notion that condoms are fail-safe methods to prevent pregnancies and/or the transmission of STIs.

None of the students had any idea how severely certain STIs could affect their lives; most had an idea about HIV, but all were completely surprised by the notion that the majority of these diseases do not display any visible symptoms until it is too late. Fortunately, we were able to borrow Dr. David Clarke's dermatology textbook, which provided the students with vivid photographs of common STIs.

Throughout the lessons, we constantly reminded the students to think of all the possible consequences before they acted, and that if they were going to engage in any high-risk behaviors that they take the time to think beforehand.

Mike N.

On Thursday the 19th and Friday the 20th the team travelled to the north east of Nicaragua to deliver health care to the very needy people in the vicinity of city of Condega. One of the team members said, "this feels like a M. A. S. H. unit", as we headed down the road in a convoy of 4 vehicles with all of our medical equipment, examination tables and medicines in tow.

It was wonderfully satisfying to minister to such a needy and thankful group of people. The local group of 10 pastors that had invited us to come stated that our team was the answer to 2 years of fervent prayer. Our hope and their prayer is that we will be able to return soon to build on all that has been accomplished.

The February team was the first medical team to use the newly constructed medical/multi-purpose building and by all accounts the facility performed well in ensuring timely and effective delivery of medical care. Our thanks to all the donors who helped make this building a reality.

The project cost of this 4125 s/f building, with infrastructure and furnishings, was $180,000 USD of which Threefold has been able to raise $150,000 USD thus far. Donations toward the shortfall are welcome.

For the third year of the undergraduate medical program at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), students spend eight months living and working in a small northern community. During this time they shadow physicians in the local hospitals, family practices, nursing stations and various community health centres. For the Parry Sound students, third year has been quite different as they spent two weeks in Nicaragua on the February 2009 Threefold Medical team.

The four students Jody Stasko, Stephanie Aubrey, Katherine Bell and Krista St. Amant, had the chance to provide primary care to many Nicaraguans under the supervision of family physicians Drs. Dave Clarke, Brad Hunkin and Maureen Thompson. They also spent some time under the direction of otolaryngologist Dr. Julian Nedzelski; one evening he led them in a workshop on Vertigo-a component of their curriculum.

The experience they gained has been invaluable as they had to draw on the knowledge and skills acquired at NOSM to understand medical delivery in entirely new context, rife with its own set of challenges and rewards.

Threefold Ministries is a Canadian Not for Profit charity and registered NGO working in Nicaragua to bring hope and help to those in need. Our mission statement and goal is to partner with others in "projects, people and programs that encourage great commandment living and great commission thinking". We receive no government funding and are only able to do what we do through the generous support of private donors who provide the financial means for us to accomplish our goals. If you would like to partner with us in this regard please send your donation to Threefold Ministries at the address opposite. A tax receipt will be issued for all donations over $20.